shrapnel
by Lk Ivy
Summary: Short piece about Selphie. Sometimes you can't escape your memories.


She was excited. It was spring, and that meant it was time for the Spring festival. Of course, she had organised it, and of course she did most of the work on her own, as well.  
  
Hurrying down the stairs of the Quad, Selphie had one arm clamped around a large box, and with the other one she dragged along a bewildered looking Zell. She glanced around at her decorations and was quite pleased with herself. Her home was currently adorned with peachy colored ribbons. In the trees sat big butterflies, made out of creme colored translucent paper.   
  
  
"Selph'. C'mon, slow down. There's no need to run."  
  
"I just wanna make sure that everything is perfect!"  
  
"But, we've still got two hours till the festival starts."  
  
"Yeah, but I don't know if this will work, so we need time to test it first."  
  
  
They went through the archway to the back end of the Quad. Selphie looked around, and found Irvine standing next to a ladder, that was leaning against the wall.  
  
"There you are! See, Zell. He is here on time."  
  
She let go of Zell and made her way towards the ladder. Balancing the box in one hand, she climbed upwards. She deposited her load on a ledge, and looked down at the two again.  
  
"Are you still standing there? Come on, boys, into position."  
  
They went a few feet apart, following Selphie's strict instructions, until she was satisfied. She hooked her leg around a ladder rung, grabbed the box and opened it up. With one mighty swung, she emptied the box over the Quad. Thousands of silver glittering flakes came pouring out of it, spreading in a wide arch, and slowly began to descend.  
  
The two men on the ground almost simultaneously whispered 'float', directing the spell upwards. Bright light was spreading over the particles, reflected on each metallic surface. When it subsided it gave view to countless little pieces, hanging suspended in the air.  
  
"Wohoo!" Selphie exclaimed, getting off the ladder again. Her two companions stared in awe at the display in front of them.   
  
She walked over them and through the haze, not getting in touch with the particles, since they drifted away from every movement being made.  
  
All of this was a little trick she had discovered in Trabia. She remembered, that they had done this with snowflakes, stopping them in mid drop.  
  
Garden was currently not resting on the ground, but was spinning ever so slowly. Despite the steady rotation, the Quad walls were not colliding with the flakes. The float spell made them always return to their position relative to the ground, and it looked like they were constantly swinging to and fro.  
  
"So, what do you guys say?" she made a coy little pose for them.   
  
"I say, that's totally awesome." Irvine complimented.  
  
"'Second that. How long will they stay like that?" Zell asked.  
  
"Well, the stuff is really light. I guess we have to renew the spell every hour or so."  
  
"All right, Selphie. Sorry, but I have a little bit of work to do, so I'll come back later then, okay? " Irvine asked, already making his way out of the Quad.  
  
"Okay! See ya, Irv'."  
  
Zell turned towards her again.   
  
"Really, Selph'. Ya did great."  
  
"Thanks. Zelly. Oooh, the sun is already setting, just wait till Garden stands in the right position. It'll look fantastic! All red and stuff."  
  
Zell nodded, waved a little goodby and went through the archway, calling over his shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, this will be just like a freeze frame of an explosion of some sort."  
  
  
Exuberant smile faded.  
  
No, no it wouldn't look like that.  
  
That wouldn't be festive. The Spring festival wasn't about war or violence.   
  
She had enough of that outside. Outside of Garden, outside her Quad.  
  
Like in Trabia Garden. But this was her home now, and in here, this would not happen.  
  
Uncertainly, she backed off a few feet towards the railing at the end of the Quad. She turned away from her decorations and stood still for a moment. Her gaze wandered over the ground in front of her.   
  
Something caught her eyes and she startled. There between her feet, a thin line was running through. Of course. This was were a huge fragment of Garden had been broken out. It was repaired now, but if you looked closely, than you could see a faint rim. Despite applying several layers of grey color to the concrete, one could still recognize the crack, looking almost like a scar...  
  
No, no. Not thinking about that now. That was over.  
  
She shook her head, clearing her mind.  
  
And Garden completed another round. Selphie watched as the orange disc of the sun was slowly brought into view. Bright beams of light were washing over the Quad.  
  
Anxiously, she looked back towards the floating structure, she had been so excited about earlier.   
  
Red and orange caught in thousand particles, reflecting wildly, blinding her. They were like countless wavering flames, burning coldly. Like white-hot metal bursting apart. Walls of Garden were hued in violent bright red.  
  
And she just stood, motionless, watching the world explode silently. 


End file.
